Laurel's Pluto Blog

NASA Dawn Mission Reveals Secrets of Large Asteroid - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Fri, 11 May 2012 05:58:04 GMT

To paraphrase the late Dr. Brian Marsden, isn't it time we did away with the term "asteroid" for an object that is clearly a planetary body, much closer to a planet than to an asteroid?

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-132

Annual Pluto Protest in Seattle

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 19:45:58 GMT

http://www.greenwoodspacetravelsupply.blogspot.com/2012/02/pluto-day-on-march-10th.html

The Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. in Seattle is once again sponsoring its annual Pluto Day March and Rally in support of Pluto's planethood, held in conjunction with the 82nd anniversary of the announcement of Pluto's discovery, on March 13, 1930. While I love the poster and am now wearing the T-shirt, it should not read "Science Is Wrong" because "science" never mandated or decreed that Pluto is not a planet. A political decision by four percent of the IAU does NOT equate to "science." This is an important distinction because there is strong scientific support for Pluto's planet status under the geophysical planet definition. The view that dwarf planets are planets too is not, as its opponents often claim, based on sentiment. It IS just as much based on science as is the dynamical planet definition that excludes Pluto.

Planet Pluto Discovered 82 Years Ago Today

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:13:10 GMT

Eighty-two years ago today, on February 18, 1930, Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered planet Pluto, the tenth planet from the Sun. Pluto is commonly known as the ninth planet, but that is based on the erroneous demotion of Ceres in the 19^th century, before Ceres was recognized as being spherical and therefore a small planet.

Two days ago, on February 16, New Horizons Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern gave an update on the mission at the Weekly Space Hangout, which can be viewed in its entirety here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk8LUI1A6TQ&feature=player_embedded . During the broadcast, Stern also discussed several other issues including NASA’s new budget. Those watching live had the opportunity to tweet questions to Stern and to several other astronomers linked to the broadcast.

Stern also urged everyone to sign the Care2 petition for a New Horizons US stamp. Anyone can sign; you don’t have to be a US citizen or even over 18. The link, once again, is here: http://www.change.org/petitions/usps-honor-new-horizons-and-the-exploration-of-pluto-with-a-usps-stamp

Tombaugh was 24 years old with only a high school diploma when he discovered Pluto, a planet missed by professional astronomers who had been searching for it, including Percival Lowell himself. Lowell, who died thinking he failed to discover a trans-Neptunian planet, actually had captured images of Pluto on photographic plates in 1915 and 1916 but didn’t recognize the small object as a planet, much less the gas giant for which he was searching.

In online discussions, professional astronomers who disagree with me often resort to the old standby, “You’re only an amateur astronomer.” I don’t claim to be anywhere in the league of Clyde Tombaugh, but this insulting comment demeans all amateur astronomers, who have a long legacy of past and present astronomical discoveries. Amateur astronomers also tend to have a broader view that encompasses many fields within astronomy as opposed to a very specialized focus in one area to the exclusion of all others. And they are usually the ones who communicate astronomy with the public.

Today, through computers and relatively inexpensive telescopes, there are more opportunities than ever for amateur astronomers to make significant discoveries. Clyde Tombaugh’s accomplishment remains an inspiration to all who seek new discoveries, regardless of whether they are paid to do astronomy or do it as a labor of love.

The planet Tombaugh discovered is now known to have four moons, and the New Horizons team is preparing for the possibility that it might also have a ring system. This is important because at the spacecraft’s speed, it cannot afford an impact with even a small ring particle. If a ring system is found, New Horizons’ trajectory will be slightly altered to avoid the possibility of such an impact.

Planet Pluto’s discovery excited the world 82 years ago, and today, this little planet continues to enchant and surprise us. Is it any wonder that the attempt to demote it, done mostly by astronomers who do not study planets, has never really stuck?

In his talk, Stern made some insightful comments about Pluto’s status. Here are some of them.

“The solar system made a lot more planets than we learned about in grade school. The solar system is teeming with planets.”

“It was a great tragedy when the press so readily accepted the IAU definition.”

On the benefits of a geophysical planet definition: These small spherical bodies are “gravity-dominated as opposed to strength-dominated, like a rock (asteroid).”

Stern continues to reject the notion of a small group of self-selected experts voting on science.

“This 19^th century way of doing things—old guys in a closed room—is not the way to go. We’ve got to go with what people think.”

This statement shows respect for public opinion while at the same time noting that facts, not a backroom door vote, is what determines reality. The days of professional astronomers guarding their knowledge and keeping it from the general public as some sort of elite society are long over. Some professional astronomers seem to have a hard time accepting that change.

To commemorate this day of discovery, here is an image from 1930 announcing the new planet:

And here is Pluto today, a planet with four moons:

We can only imagine what the early photos from New Horizons will show us in just three years.

For now, Happy Anniversary of Discovery Day, Planet Pluto!

Please Sign Petition for New Horizons Stamp

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:34:45 GMT

Please sign the petition at this site in support of a postage stamp honoring the New Horizons mission. You do not have to be an American citizen to sign; anyone from anywhere in the world is eligible to sign it.

http://www.change.org/petitions/usps-honor-new-horizons-and-the-exploration-of-pluto-with-a-usps-stamp

Also, note the support of the stamp and of Pluto's planet status by Dave Eicher of Astronomy magazine here:

http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/blogs/daves-universe/archive/2012/02/08/let-s-get-ourselves-a-new-horizons-pluto-stamp.aspx

And here is a video in support of the stamp:
http://www.viewbix.com/v/Vote---Pass-On--change-org--/bcf66e95-dc90-49d5-a149-6564c4750428

NASA's Kepler Announces 11 New Planetary Systems - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:14:10 GMT

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-026

"Four of the systems (Kepler-23, Kepler-24, Kepler-28 and Kepler-32) contain a pairing where the outer planet circles the star twice for every three times the inner planet orbits its star."

Does the above sound familiar? It should. That is the same resonance that occurrs between Pluto and Neptune.

In Memoriam: Patsy Tombaugh, 1912-2012

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:51:29 GMT

One week before the sixth anniversary of New Horizons’ launch on January 19, Patricia (Patsy) Edson Tombaugh, widow of Pluto’s discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, died in Las Cruces, New Mexico, at age 99.

To many “Pluto huggers”—a term coined by Mike Wrathell to describe supporters of Pluto’s planet status—this loss feels personal. Whether we had had the good fortune of meeting her, or whether she was an icon we admired for her longevity, tenacity, and many accomplishments, to so many of us, it feels like we have lost a family member.

Patsy Tombaugh was so much more than the wife of an astronomer. She was a teacher, a promoter of the arts, an active member of women’s advocacy groups, a co-founder of Las Cruces’ Unitarian Universalist Church, along with her husband, a promoter of education and of the Tombaugh Scholars Foundation at New Mexico State University, and since 2006, a staunch advocate for Pluto’s planet status.

And she had dreamed not only of celebrating her 100th birthday this coming November, but of seeing the 2015 New Horizons flyby of the planet her husband had discovered way back in 1930, before the two were married, when Patsy was still in high school.

She attended the New Horizons launch in 2006, an event that moved her to tears. She also took part in the dedication of her late husband’s telescope at Rancho Hidalgo in 2009. That same year, she was present when the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring March 13 Pluto Planet Day, in defiance of the IAU vote.

When that vote took place, Patsy initially remarked that she had “lost her job” promoting Pluto and keeping it in the public eye, assuring the little world didn’t get forgotten in the wake of so many new discoveries in the outer solar system—not to mention discoveries in other solar systems entirely.

But that reaction didn’t last. She was invited to take part in a 2009 Nova TV version of The Pluto Files organized by Neil de Grasse Tyson, who was so impressed with the kindness and friendship of the Tombaugh family when he visited them in New Mexico, that he actually began rethinking his position on Pluto. Reviewed on this blog three years ago, that Nova episode featured a Tyson who had gone from saying he “killed” Pluto to one who publicly recognized the existence of an ongoing debate, even placing a plaque in the Rose Center noting that Pluto’s status remains in dispute. Towards the end of the episode, Tyson invites Tombaugh daughter Annette to the Rose Center in New York City and proudly displays the plaque to her.

Unfortunately, Patsy was unable to attend the 2008 Great Planet Debate. The family was well represented, however, as Annette, her husband Wilbur Sitze, and their grandson Kyle were all there—and signed the petition I would send to the IAU General Assembly one year later.

Patsy was very much a woman ahead of her time. In an age when few women pursued post-secondary education, she worked her way through college, earning a degree in philosophy from the University of Kansas in 1939.

Along with her brother James Edson, an astronomy major, and Clyde, his friend whom she met in 1933, she actively participated in a group known as the Syzygy Club, a small group of six or seven young visionaries who discussed issues like space travel and rockets. Today, or even back in the 1960s, such groups and discussions are common and mostly well accepted, but in the 1930s, that was not the case. The group never spoke to outsiders about the Syzygy Club for fear of being thought crazy, Patsy noted in a 2005 essay, “My Life with Clyde Tombaugh.”

Her interest in astronomy was exciting to Clyde, as he knew few women who shared that interest. After the Tombaughs were married, she accompanied him to Flagstaff, Arizona, where he worked at the Lowell Observatory. In the early days, that meant “roughing it,” living without phones, refrigerators, or washing machines, and cooking with wood fires. While there, Patsy took the time to meet members of various Native American tribes and learn their ways—a practice that did not become popular in the general culture until the 1960s.

Like Jules Verne back in the 1860s, visionaries are all about imagining the future, thinking beyond the limitations of the present day. Patsy and her husband Clyde were such visionaries, which is why it is not surprising that she set her sights on seeing Pluto up close in 2015.

So many astronomy and space exploration fans, including those who disagree with classing Pluto as a planet, had been rooting for Patsy to live this dream. Still vibrant and active at 99, she became a symbol of longevity and tenacity, a link between the past and the future, an inspiration to others that life could be not just a long journey, but an exciting one, filled with wonder and trust in what could be.

Writer Alan Boyle reports that when he visited Patsy in 2009, she realized the Pluto discussion was not going away any time soon. “It looks like we’re going to have to keep on discussing this,” he quotes her as telling him.

No question about that! And no shortage of people eager to discuss it!

One cannot help but feel sadness at the realization that Patsy will not be with us to realize her dream of seeing the New Horizons Pluto flyby. Yet at the same time, we can also honor a life well lived, a life ten months short of a century.

A friend and commenter on Facebook, on hearing of her passing, said, “I really hoped she’d live to see Pluto…She can see it perfectly now though.”

In their tribute to New Horizons, the band Elias-Fey sings, noting the presence of some of Clyde’s ashes on the spacecraft, “Ole Clyde’s hitching a ride back to where he belongs. Far out of this world, to infinity and beyond. You gotta believe. Because that’s what keeps us moving on. An American dream to where no one’s ever gone.”

I choose to believe that my Facebook friend is right, that Patsy can see Pluto perfectly now. And I know too many people to count will be thinking of her when the flyby happens three years from now.

Farewell, and rest in peace, Mrs. Tombaugh.

New Horizons: A Year of Milestones

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:48:15 GMT

New Horizons: A Year of Milestones

Boulder scientists uncover new clues about Pluto's surface - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:16:21 GMT

Boulder scientists uncover new clues about Pluto's surface - Boulder Daily Camera

Everybody's Party: Darkness and Light at the Winter Solstice

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:49:03 GMT

It was a cold, blustery night exactly one year ago when shortly after midnight, I headed for Sperry Observatory, the home of Amateur Astronomers, Inc., in Cranford, NJ, for an informal gathering of members to watch a rare Winter Solstice lunar eclipse.

And as I have said time and again over the past year, it was one of the most powerful, most memorable, most magical holiday memories, not just of that year, but of a lifetime.

Most people expect those types of memories from holiday parties in beautifully decorated rooms filled with friends, family, and familiar seasonal music. Some make memories at religious services commemorating the many seasonal festivals (and in celebratory festivals at other times of the year).

Ever the non-conformist, I found the truth, beauty, and experience of the season outdoors in the dead of night with a wind chill below 20 degrees, not under glittering holiday lights, but with fellow enthusiasts (some might say fanatics) under a rare red Solstice Moon.

In childhood, December was a time of personal agony, a party from which I was excluded. The powerful innate connection I felt to this season was unacknowledged as the people around me treated these as just ordinary days. It was, after all, only a Christian festival.

Except, it’s not. Yes, there is the Christian holiday, but it is one of many, not the be all and end all of December. Long before Christianity ever took on just about all the trappings of this month’s celebrations, the Winter Solstice, the original reason for the season, was honored, commemorated, and welcomed with awe and wonder.

Thousands of years ago, places like Stonehenge and New Grange were built by ancient people who understood that they were part of the Earth and its seasonal rhythms, not separate from it. They understood that like everything else that lives, they too lived—or died—together with the Earth and the web of life they shared with it.

And they understood that the rhythm of all life is a cycle. There cannot be summer without winter, day without night, life without death. But in a cycle, death is not the end of the line but the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. The waning Moon gives way to the new, waxing Moon. The Sun, without which even the ancients understood that no one and nothing can live, was seen as going through an annual cycle of life, from birth and growth in spring through its prime and strength in the summer, followed by waning in the fall and ultimate death at its weakest point, the Winter Solstice.

But on that night, the longest, darkest night of the year, ancient cultures celebrated what they saw as a miracle. The sun was reborn as an infant, and from this day forward, the days would begin to lengthen once more. A new year, a new cycle, had begun.

Today, we know about orbits and understand that seasons are caused by the Earth’s axial tilt. We can do nothing, celebrate nothing, and the days will lengthen after December 21 anyway.

Yet one could argue the ancient people had something we don’t have and badly need—that powerful connection with our home planet, our Earth mother, the sense that we live as she lives, and we die as she dies. We still have the same types of celebrations and symbols at this time of year, but what we are missing is the connection to nature, to the rhythms of the world that sustains us.

Out in the dark and cold last year, I experienced firsthand the reality of the season. It was so cold that even with the whole ensemble of boots, gloves, scarf, hat, and hood, I could only stay out for limited amounts of time before heading back into the warmth of the observatory.

Before 1 am, the Moon looked like an ordinary full Moon. One of the club’s most active members set up his telescope and camera to capture the event. We watched as slowly, imperceptibly, the black shadow crept onto the Moon, first small, then growing, growing, the Moon appearing to go through a weird procession of all its phases. But instead of disappearing, as shadow enveloped it, the Moon turned red.

The red Moon was nowhere near bright enough to cast the light of a full Moon. On the night of a full Moon, we were enveloped in darkness.

Several people who were not even club members showed up between 2 and 3 am, including one woman with several children, who decided that giving her children this unique experience would trump whatever was taught in school the next day. If I had had children, I would have done the same.

A Winter Solstice song by Loreena McKinnett begins with “Enter the night, and you’ll find the light.” In the early morning hours of December 21, 2010, I and other lucky observers entered the night and experienced the full extent of darkness and cold. At the same time, we found the light of camaraderie, of sublime connection with our home planet, from that very same cold and dark.

And that is why the Winter Solstice is everybody’s holiday. The dark, the cold, the weakness of sunlight even during the daytime, are personal experiences we all live. Innately, inherently, we long for the return of the light. All of us, regardless of faith, ethnicity, race, and all the other things that divide us, in some way, feel this longing.

We may not be able to have a lunar eclipse every year at this time, but neither do we have to have a “December Dilemma.” The return of the light, the rebirth of the Sun, is not “someone else’s party.” It’s our party, the party of every being that lives on Earth (though reversed by six months for those in the Southern Hemisphere). No one is “left out.”

In the depth of winter, light is returning. As the author of the book Seasonal Dance put it, “the darkest night is the birthday of the Sun.” If we take the time to really feel the connection with our world, we will understand in a way that is too profound for words. That is the true reason for comfort and joy.

Happy Solstice!

Is Vesta the Smallest Terrestrial Planet?

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:42:10 GMT

What defines a planet, a decree by an "authority," or the data we learn about an object? The Dawn mission has revealed fascinating information about Vesta, all of which show it to be far more a planet than an asteroid. Here we have yet one more piece of evidence in support of a broad planet definition that encompasses the wide range of objects that both orbit stars and orbit planets, the satellites of stars.

New Horizons Becomes Closest Spacecraft to Approach Pluto

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:39:59 GMT

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20111202.php

Those with iphones and ipads can now follow New Horizons via a special New Horizons app. Find out more about it here:

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20111024.php

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-375&cid=release_2011-375&msource=2011375&tr=y&aui

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:29:59 GMT

New NASA Dawn Visuals Show Vesta's 'Color Palette' - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Case for Pluto's Ocean

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:22:56 GMT

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=20717

Pluto may very well be one of several planets (I include spherical moons here, which I consider satellite planets) that might harbor a subsurface ocean that could host microbial life. Maybe subsurface oceans will one day be a new defining characteristic for this specific type of planet!

Dawn Mission: Dawn Image of the Day Archive

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:17:04 GMT

Dawn Mission: Dawn Image of the Day Archive

Vesta is a complex world. Dawn is showing us that protoplanets are very different from tiny, shapeless asteroids.

ESA Portal - Asteroid Lutetia: postcard from the past

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:04:32 GMT

ESA Portal - Asteroid Lutetia: postcard from the past

It seems asteroid Lutetia tried to become a planet!

Occultation Data Shows Pluto and Eris Are "Twins"

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:12:44 GMT

http://www.space.com/13403-dwarf-planet-eris-pluto-twin.html

In fact, Eris having a higher density than Pluto means Eris likely has a higher percentage of rock than does Pluto, which is estimated at 70 percent rock. This rocky nature is part of what makes these objects planets. We now know definitively that the 2006 IAU decision was based on erroneous information--that Eris is larger than Pluto, which turns out to be false--which only serves to reinforce the notion that that decision was premature.

Pluto's icy exterior may conceal an ocean - space - 16 September 2011 - New Scientist

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:22:16 GMT

Pluto's icy exterior may conceal an ocean - space - 16 September 2011 - New Scientist

Real Life "Tatooine" Challenges Planet Formation Theories

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:03:24 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/science/space/16planet.html

New Horizons Day 2: Liquids on Pluto's surface? - The Planetary Society Blog | The Planetary Society

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:17:20 GMT

New Horizons Day 2: Liquids on Pluto's surface? - The Planetary Society Blog | The Planetary Society

Primordial Organic Material on Pluto

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:24:15 GMT

http://www.space.com/12823-primordial-organic-material-pluto.html

This New Horizons video from Space.com discusses the mission and anticipates what researches might find on Pluto's surface.

When I tried to watch this using Internet Explorer, the site kept asking me to download the latest Adobe Flash Player even after I had already done so. You may need to use a browser other than Internet Explorer to watch this. It worked fine for me with Google Chrome.

Dawn Mission: Mission Dawn Journal: September 1, 2011

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:43:32 GMT

Dawn Mission: Mission Dawn Journal: September 1, 2011

Five Years Later: Pluto Hasn't Been Killed and Doesn't Have It Coming

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:27:06 GMT

It’s August 24, 2011; five years have passed since the debacle in Prague, and a few vocal people who insist our solar system has only eight planets are still acting like broken records, endlessly repeating “get over it.”

That’s because the decision that was supposed to be final, that was intended to once and for all end the debate over Pluto’s status and over how to define the term planet continues to be a huge #FAIL, as new discoveries keep the little world front and center and continue to amaze us.

Being a procrastinator is usually not considered a positive thing. Yet for me, as I continue to work on my book and on several other Pluto-related writings, the delays have resulted in unexpected benefits, specifically, a continual influx of new information about Pluto, dwarf planets, proto-planets, and exoplanets that, in each case, compels revisions and new topics of discussion.

As often said, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and discoveries in just the last year, never mind the last five years, powerfully illustrate the mistake made by four percent of the IAU in rushing through a resolution based on only a little knowledge, a resolution accurately and amusingly described by Alan Boyle in his book The Case for Pluto as looking like “it was stitched together by Dr. Frankenstein.”

Except Dr. Frankenstein’s monster “took.” The IAU definition, to the dismay of those who threw it together and then proclaimed victory in the debate, did not “take.”

Here is some of the knowledge 424 astronomers voting in Prague in 2006 did not yet have:

Pluto’s lower atmosphere contains methane gas, as revealed in March 2009 by ESO’s Very Large Telescope. This lower atmosphere is significantly warmer than Pluto’s surface, where the average temperature is –180 Celsius. Unlike Earth, Pluto has an “upside down” atmosphere where temperatures increase at higher levels by 3-15 degrees Celsius per kilometer.

Pluto might harbor a subsurface ocean that could host microbial life and could also drive a weak magnetic field. Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, may also host a subsurface ocean and shows evidence of cryovolcanism.

Contrary to popular belief, Pluto is once again the largest Kuiper Belt Object, as Eris’ occultation of a star in November 2010 helped astronomers obtain a more accurate measurement of its size, which was determined to be marginally smaller than Pluto’s. There currently are no known objects in either the Kuiper Belt or the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that are larger than Pluto. Eris is slightly more dense than Pluto, but if density is all that counts for planets, then Saturn should be demoted, as it is the solar system’s least dense world, to the point that it could actually float in water.

Outside our solar system, an incredible range of exoplanets has been found, most of which would never fit the IAU planet definition even if it specified planets have to orbit a star rather than our Sun. These include planets that orbit their star backwards (in the direction opposite the star’s rotation); a planet believed to have been formed the way stars form, directly from a molecular cloud, orbiting a brown dwarf; a Sun-like star with six planets all orbiting within a space equal to the orbit of Mercury; rogue planets not orbiting any stars; at least two systems with giant planets orbiting in the same 3:2 resonance as Neptune and Pluto, and even a star system with two planets that share a single orbit.

Such unexpected findings prompted planetary scientist Dr. Jack Lissauer to admit the data is “sending me back to the drawing board” when it comes to theories of solar system formation.

Those who exclude Pluto from planethood due to its eccentric orbit should study exoplanets, many of which have orbits far more inclined and elliptical than Pluto’s. Apparently, astronomers’ theory that most solar systems formed the way ours did is being proven incorrect, as can be seen here: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Interstellar_Crashes_Could_Toss_Out_Habitable_Planets_999.html

In 2011, Pluto twice occulted a star, allowing astronomers to obtain more accurate measurements of its atmosphere’s pressure, density, and temperature via NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Contrary to expectations, Pluto’s atmosphere has not become thinner as the planet recedes from its closest point to the Sun, which it reached in 1989. No one knows why.

Pluto’s atmosphere changes very quickly, as can be distinguished from changes in the coloring on its surface. More on this can be found here: http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.3014

Vesta, a main belt body known as an asteroid since the mid-19^th century, now being visited by the Dawn mission, is showing itself to be a highly complex, geologically differentiated world. It is not quite spherical, not quite in hydrostatic equilibrium but clearly very different from any asteroids except Ceres, which is not an asteroid at all, but a small planet, and Pallas, which is somewhat similar to Vesta. Some astronomers now refer to Vesta and Pallas as “protoplanets” to distinguish them from tiny, shapeless asteroids.

If having a tail makes an object a comet, then Mercury joins the ranks of the comets, as it has an elongated tail of glowing gas, as found by NASA’s Stereo mission.

Pluto has been found to have a fourth moon, P4, estimated to be 8-21 miles in diameter. Current thought is the Pluto system was formed via a giant impact. If that sounds familiar, it should. That is how Earth’s moon is believed to have formed.

Three new dwarf planets were discovered in the Kuiper Belt, objects smaller than Pluto but large enough to be over the threshold for hydrostatic equilibrium, 250 miles or 400 kilometers wide. Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, who led the study that found these bodies, recently noted, “There could still be Mars- or even Earth-sized objects way out there, at hundreds of AU (astronomical units; one AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun, or 93 million miles), that would be too faint for us to detect.”

In spite of this, Mike Brown continues to discourage the notion of searching for more KBOs Pluto-sized or larger, claiming that if such objects existed, they would have already been found.

A most encouraging development, begun only two months ago, is Ice Hunters, a Zooniverse project in which citizen scientists can actively take part in the search for KBOs; discoveries made through this program could end up being targets for New Horizons after it flies by Pluto. No longer is KBO hunting or even planet hunting restricted to professional astronomers who can obtain coveted time on large telescopes. Anyone reading this who wants to take part in this exciting project, which is being run in conjunction with the New Horizons mission, should visit http://www.icehunters.org .

All these developments have served to strengthen support for Pluto’s planet status and for the planet status of all dwarf planets. Online discussions clearly show a tide turning in small planets’ favor. Arguments such as the claim that we cannot have too many planets because it would be too hard for kids to memorize all of them, or that the term “planet” is devalued by having a large number, or that “the experts have spoken, and it’s over,” or that support for keeping small round objects as a subclass of planets is based on sentiment and emotion are more and more frequently falling flat on their faces.

Scientific principles rise and fall over time, not through a vote. For more than 100 years, people have failed in attempts to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity false. In just five years, the IAU planet definition has not only failed to take hold, but has lost ground and continues to do so as new evidence shows just how premature the decision was.

Of Pluto and the IAU’s increasing irrelevance in the discussion, Alan Stern recently said, “I believe that most planetary scientists know it’s a planet, and we don’t need the IAU to tell us it is.” Neither, for that matter, does the general public need that.

From a cultural standpoint, support for Pluto’s planet status is as strong as ever. While teaching of the solar system is not standardized, the best teachers continue to teach the controversy. Students of all ages have eagerly embraced Pluto as an exciting topic for research. Two personal examples are noteworthy here. One member of my astronomy club, who just completed her freshman year in high school, proudly informed me of the A+ she received for her paper discussing the controversy. In July, when I met the family of my brother’s fiancée, I was impressed to hear her niece, who had just completed seventh grade, emphasize that her teacher absolutely would not come down on either side of the issue, instead teaching it as an ongoing debate.

Elon University Physics Professor Tony Crider has combined astronomy with another favorite interest of his and of mine—role-playing games—to create a game in which students role play astronomers at a 1999 debate and at the 2006 IAU General Assembly. As a new school year begins, I encourage teachers and students to use this original, fun, and informative lesson, which was introduced earlier this month at a meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The game can be found at http://facstaff.elon.edu/acrider/acrider/The_Pluto_Debate.html , and I hope to post a
review of it shortly.

Constantly enticing us with new data, Pluto is proving more popular than ever. In spite of a recession, Pluto-themed objects, including T-shirts, amazingly continue to sell online, even after five years. At a recent podcast I did about Pluto for the Online Astronomical Society, significant support was expressed for establishing an organization of amateur astronomers that could operate as an auxiliary to the IAU, enabling substantially more public input into decisions and facilitating better communication between professional astronomers and the public.

I am thrilled to announce that I am now a co-administrator for the Facebook Cause “Bring Pluto Back,” whose membership now stands at 1,634, nearly four times the number of people who voted to demote Pluto. If you’re on Facebook and want to join, please visit http://www.causes.com/causes/241322-bring-pluto-back .

Psychologist Carl Jung believed that symbols and myths connect people with subconscious levels of meaning that transcend logic and reason. Such symbols and myths inspire art, literature, music, and imagination. I believe Pluto has become one of those enigmas larger than itself and larger than life, compelling, motivating, inspiring people of all ages and levels of education. This is the je ne sais quoi phenomenon that those who keep repeating louder and louder that Pluto is dead and that we should “get over it,” do not comprehend.

Having performed in two Renaissance festivals, I’ve lately become fascinated with all things from that time, the age from which modern astronomy emerged. So on this fifth anniversary, my message to the IAU, whose members clearly made a premature decision based on a little knowledge and insufficient data five years ago, I will convey some Renaissance wisdom, from William Shakespeare:

“There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” A good number of them are planets.

Interview with Dr. Alan Stern on New Horizons

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:19:35 GMT

Visit this link to hear a podcast by Dr. Stern of the Southwest Research Institute and New Horizons Principal Investigator, discuss the discovery of Pluto's fourth moon.

http://howonearthradio.org/archives/1092

Small moon a big deal for Boulder-led Pluto mission - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:09:07 GMT

Small moon a big deal for Boulder-led Pluto mission - Boulder Daily Camera

Earth-bound KBO searching

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:15:25 GMT

Earth-bound KBO searching